


Tick Tock

by Stormyevenings



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: F/F, Field Trip, I'm Sorry, I'm so sorry if this posts 3 times a03 is bugging, Mentions of Sexual Harassment, Non-Despair AU, lowkey tho, saihara and Chabashira friendship yes or yes????, this is rlly bad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-02-11
Packaged: 2018-09-23 12:33:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9657659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stormyevenings/pseuds/Stormyevenings
Summary: But most of all, certainly did not expect to find Tenko Chabashira standing at his side, eyes swollen with a pair of scissors pointed directly at his nose.Or; Saihara cuts Tenko's hair





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ikuzonos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ikuzonos/gifts).



> First of all, if this posts multiple times, I'm so sorry. This website's lowkey glitching out on me.
> 
> Anyways! Hello, thanks for reading.
> 
> It's five am, I haven't slept and gotten into an argument with my father so I decided why the heck not and wrote this.
> 
> I wanted to experiment with Tenko's past and put it into her character here so yeah
> 
> Enjoy this typo-ridden fanfic

Saihara did not expect that he would somehow end up roped into a class field trip, and certainly not to an exotic, mansion-like beach house that reminded him of something out of Kirumi Toujou's very own dreams.

And he did not expect to be captivated by the frothy waves, and agree to spending the entirety of the first day frolicking in the water with Ouma Kokichi, as the pretty Kaede Akamatsu watched with a laugh alongside Angie Yonaga.

Yes, he could admit that he never expected to find himself sandwiched between Maki Harukawa and Kaito Momota as the argued over dinner, eventually being playfully shoved aside as the two leaned in to meet each other with a small, quick kiss.

Hell, he never expected to find himself in the magnificent library for the remainer of the night, seated under a giant, polished grandfather clock, exchanging read information with Korekiyo Shinguuji and letting the hours slip by with the constant tick of it's machinery. He reckoned that it must have been an hour before midnight when the anthropologist stood for, the opposite side of the table, bidding him farewell and a good night before retreating to his room, leaving Saihara alone in the dimly lit library.

Of course, he never expected to be staying up this late, staring at a small book of poetry, lazily skimming over the words, not seeking any true meaning in them. He reckoned that his mind was too busy to understand the language and metaphors, much less sleep, and that he was only giving himself an excuse to stay up late into the night.

Oh, he never expected to hear a clang at the middle of the night, and the sound of a being rushing into the room, footsteps loud and frantic and he felt a presence grace his side. 

But most of all, he certainly did not expect to find Tenko Chabashira standing at his side, eyes swollen with drying tears and a pair of gleaming, silver scissors pointed a few inches from his nose.

(Tick tock)

The sound of the clock seemed to be amplified in the pregnant silence, as the two's eyes met, an unhidden message seeming to be exchanged between the two.

And, if almost by reflex, no, instinct, his eyes drifted down from her shining, shattered eyes and to her warm, clean wrists, relieved to see none of the familiar drops of ruby that so often stained the stitches of fabric itching his own.

(Tick tock)

"T-Tenko..."

(Tick tock)

His eyes were drawn upwards and to her flushed face and red eyes, slowly examining the crying mess of a girl as she parted her lips, trying to force words from her clogged throat.

"Cut Tenko's hair."

(Tick Tock) 

Oh...he was not expecting those words to be what she had said, for he was expecting that the girl was seeking consolation in him, as she usually did when awaking from a horrendous nightmare. Though, Tenko was no predictable girl, and in all his years of knowing her, she continued to constantly surprise him with her requests and wishes.

(Tick tock)

He stood and reaches a scarred, small hand to grasp the end of the scissors, feeling the cool, chilling sensation of flesh on metal seep numb not only his skin, but his thoughts as he mumbled out a reply.

"A-Alright C-Chabashira-san...why don't you sit-"

(Tick tock)

She smiled to him through blurry eyes, and Saihara could practically see see the sob the athletic girl was holding back through the drool pooling at the corners of her mouth, and the way her face scrunched up and wrinkled in clear pain. He felt a pang of empathy flash trough him as the girl sat in the chair he once occupied with a thud, bringing an arm up to roughly wipe her face and nose with a sniff.

"Y-You...do you want any certain length Chabashira-san?"

(Tick tock)

"A-Anything's fine for Tenko...she just wants it...gone."

He nodded and moved forwards, fingertips ever so gently brushing her neck, sending a shiver down the girl's trembling spine in the process. He bit his lip in guilt, withdrawing his hand to let the girl calm herself before speaking once again, words laced with guilt.

"It's just me, Chabashira-san...I'm not h i m..."

(Tick tock)

The girl let out a loud sob at that, gasping for air, letting her pent up waterworks flow, tears streaming down her cheeks. She stuffed a fist in her mouth a nodding with a whimper, waving a hand for Saihara to continue with his actions as she silenced herself and attempted to clear her mind from the horrors the plagued it.

He reached for one of her long pigtails that the girl wore to bed, looking much like Harakuwa-san's own two, long, dark chestnut ones, fingering the silky strands in his pale hands.

(Tick tock)

He raised the scissors to it.

(Tick tock)

He installed sharply before finally cutting the first few strands, letting the clear snipping sound intermingle with the noise being emitted from the sobbing girl in front of him.

He made quick work on the hair, cutting it so that it just lightly rested over the blades of her shoulder, mumbling an apology for any errors he may have made in a tired tone.

"I-I'm sorry, Chabashira-san, I've never done this before."

(Tick tock)

"T-That's okay, S-Saihara-kun, Tenko will be happy with it, no matter h-how it looks."

(Tick tock)

He cut the rest of the pigtail with one final snip, stepping back to admire his work, a bit surprised at the opposition of the half-cut hair. He brushed the few strands that stuck to her shirt off with a single swipe, clearing his throat to speak to her yet again with a sigh. By now, she had seemed to stop crying, and was merely staring at her toes, lost in deep thought, and Saihara would have given anything to know what was going on in the mind of his best friend at this moment. 

"H-Halfway done, Chabashira-san, it looks good so far."

(Tick tock)

She inclined her head, and Saihara could only imagine the smile gracing her facial features, a small laugh of bliss escaping her lips in the midst of her tears.

"W-Well keep going Saihara-kun! Tenko wants it gone, gone, gone!"

(Tick tock)

He sized up her other pigtail, taking it in his hand, listening intently as she stammered out a line of nervous conversation as the laughter died from her jade eyes.

"So...S-Shinguujia-kun has been saying that Tenko's been acting rebellious lately. Imagine what he would say if he saw Tenko now...haha!"

Her laugh sounded forced and fake, and Saihara looked down in guilt that his best friend was feeling so low, his own emotions sinking at the sight of her. He lifted a hand to pat her head, before letting it fall back down to the hair we was cutting, holding the pigtail in place as he snipped away.

"Does he know about your...uh...nightmares, Chabashira-san?"

(Tick tock)

"Tenko doesn't know...maybe he figured it out? But he probably wouldn't be the one to confront her if he did!"

(Tick tock)

Saihara continued to work his way through it, slowly untangling a knot in his hands, brushing away the flyways that stuck to his own skin. He poised the scissors across the last chunk of hair, prepared to cut it, before remarking a statement in awe at the bits of hair that lay scattered at his feet.

"Wow, Chabashira-san, you've really grown your hair out, now that I look at it. You never told me why you let it grow to this length-"

(TicktockticktockticktockCLANG)

Tenko's breath hitched in her throat as Saihara cut the last few strands of hair, the sound being absorbed by the loud clang as the clock struck midnight. The girl shuddered, before slowly turning to him, a newfound fire burning in her sorrowful, once-empty eyes as she muttered a bitter remark.

"H e liked it long."

(Clang)

Saihara but his lip hard in shame, letting his hand fall to his side, shocked the pure hatred that displayed itself in the depths of her earthy eyes. He watched the girl clench her fist, her voice dripping with pure, bitter vitriol as she raised it to her chest.

(Clang) 

"H e liked to yank on it when heeee..."

(Clang) 

The word drifted off into a feeble wheeze, which was soon covered up by the long clang of the clock, filling the pause left in the air.

(Clang)

"H e kissed Tenko when he did it...and h e made Tenko feel disgusting and..."

(Clang Clang)

She swallowed deeply, turning away from the detective, mumbling out a half-hearted apology, hands folded gently on her lap.

"Tenko doesn't want to talk about it anymore, Saihara-kun...sorry."

(Clang Clang Clang Clang Clang)

Saihara let out a silent sigh before reaching a hand out to pat the broken girl on the head, letting his hand fall to rest on her shoulder in a supportive gesture, mustering up courage to speak again.

"Chabashira-san, does Yumeno-san know of...your nightmares? You're dating...should she not know?"

(Tick tock)

That seemed to trigger a response within her, and she shot the detective a look of shame before dropping her gaze to the ground, dipping her head.

"Himiko-chan already has enough worries soiling her magical heart...Tenko doesn't want to add any more things to worry over.."

(Tick tock)

"Alright...but know that I'm always here to talk whenever you need me-"

He was cut off as Tenko snorted out a chuckle, raising a fist to dry the remainder of her tears, before letting her hand travel up her forehead and slowly comb through her freshly-cut hair. She smiled triumphantly to herself, before standing from her seat to face Saihara, reaching forwards to give him a light punch on the shoulder in retaliation to his statement.

"Saihara-kun always says that! You're starting to sound like a robot when you repeat those same silly words, you dork!"

(Tick tock)

Saihara scanned her face and hair, and somehow decided that she looked better with shorter hair. The way it framed her face and enlarged her shining eyes reminded him of when they were younger, sitting on the side of the street and watching the cloudy, endless sky as they drew shapes in the cool, earthy soil.

"You look nice with shorter hair, Chabashira-san...add a sun hat and you'll look just like you did when we visited that one farm as kids-"

He said the last part in an attempt to cheer her up with a joke, and it seemed to do the trick as her eyes bugged and cheeks turned red with laughter, her merry chimes intermingling with the ticking of the clock.

(Tick...tock)

"Haha! Tenko though...hah...Tenko though you said you were never going to bring that day up again! You nearly got your ass kicked by a duck!"

(Tick.....tock)

"Well, I bet that if we returned, that duck would be more scared of me than I am of it..."

Her laughs only intensified from then on, wiping all remnants of misery from her face as she reaches to dry her tears of laughter, prompting a couple of laughs from the detective himself.

(Tick....)

"You always know how to cheer up Tenko, Saihara-kun...so..."

She twiddled her fingers together for a moment, shooting him a glance filled with so many different emotions that Saihara couldn't even begin to decipher, before she leaned in to give him a peck on the nose, wiping her mouth with a calloused hand afterwards. Saihara felt his face explode in a blush, recoiling slightly away from her as she shot him a slightly guilty look.

(Ti...)

"T-Tenko needed an experience where kissing happened with a boy...one that didn't involve h i m and was a happy kiss, you know? Anyways, Tenko really does want to thank you for helping her tonight, Saihara-kun! You're the best friend a girl like she could ha-"

Her sentence was interrupted with a huge yawn as the remaining dusting of oink blush faded from her cheeks, and her eyelids seemed to droop as she turned her gaze lazily to the door. Saihara followed her gaze before taking her hand in his, tugging her along with him as he trudged to the door, leaving his book open on the table behind.

"Well, as your best friend, I insist that it is time for bed, Chabashira-san."

He could hear the ticking of the old, tall clock fade into the background as the two walked in complete silence, stopping as they reached the floral printed door of Chabashira's room. Saihara released her, before taking a step back, allowing the girl to speak in a drowsy tone that could rival Yumeno's own.

"Thank you for everything Siahara-kun...thank you and goodnight."

And with that, she was gone, and Saihara could only stare at where she once was with empty eyes, before turning to head back to his own room. 

And as he lied down on his bed, and trained his eyes on the ceiling, he determined that maybe Chabashira would sleep well tonight after all.

If only he could say the same for himself.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and such are appreciated! So are writing prompts :-D


End file.
